There isn’t a violin small enough.
At least the corndogs still love me
Rick Perry blamed his criminal indictment and exclusion from the Republican debate mainstage for his failed presidential bid in his first interview since suspending his presidential campaign on Friday.
“The indictment by the Travis County district attorney’s office, this drunk DA that had used this office, we think, for political purposes… it had a real corrosive effect on our ability to raise money,” he said on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
“The political opponents, they did their damage,” he later added of his legal problems.
But Perry also said his campaign effectively ended in early August, when he missed the cut for the Fox News GOP debate in Cleveland.
“The other thing that we knew had to happen was we needed to be on the main debate on Aug. 6,” he said. “We missed it by a few percentages of one point… It had a very negative impact on our fundraising through the summer.”
Poor baby. I was going to get all huffy about this, but Ross Ramsey saved me the effort:
Baloney.
Perry was indicted by a special prosecutor appointed by a Republican from San Antonio on charges related to his veto of state funding for Travis County’s public integrity unit — the part of the district attorney’s office that handles, among other things, ethical and other misdeeds of state officeholders. The then-governor had demanded the resignation of Rosemary Lehmberg, who was arrested for drunken driving and then spent a few days in jail after pleading guilty. But she didn’t resign then and didn’t quit when Perry demanded it. He vetoed the funding. The special prosecutor took that to a grand jury, which indicted Perry on charges that he misused his official powers.
The only overtly political thing about the indictments is the defendant himself, who has spent the last 30 years in one political office or another. It’s natural for him to attack his attackers, and putting it off as politics is the textbook response for someone in Perry’s position.
He goes on from there, and it’s all well deserved, but this is the point I wanted to make. Perry can whine all he wants about Rosemary Lehmberg. She had absolutely nothing to do with his current legal woes, other than being a focal point for his abuse of power. Perry may well eventually beat the rap, but he has no one but himself to blame for his predicament.
He also doesn’t understand his own party any more.
In Monday night’s interview, Perry revisited his numerous criticisms of real estate developer Donald Trump, who is leading in the GOP polls. But he also expressed frustration that public service, specifically as governor, is being overlooked on political resumes at a time when outsiders are dominating the polls.
“Donald Trump’s bullets going through Washington went through and hit people like myself, hit people like all the governors that are on the stage, for instance,” he said of his former rival. “I don’t believe this is the only profession in the world where your experience ought to be held against you.”
Dude. Remember that 2010 election? Remember how Republican politicians like you tapped into a deep vein of anger with your own voters, aimed as much at other Republican politicians as at Democrats? Your voters remember it, and they remember how politicians like you pioneered the message – since honed to a sharp edge by the likes of Ted Cruz – that Republican politicians were a spineless bunch of wimps and traitors who had sold them all out. Those same voters now say they want an outsider for President. For someone like Rick Perry to complain about that now is more than a little rich.
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